Partnering with WUR has helped Mycelia grow into a leader in specialty mushrooms

Worldwide demand for mushrooms is rising. Fungi are healthy, nutritious, and provide an alternative for diets with less meat. They are also valuable for medicinal applications, as construction materials, as an energy source, and in purification processes. The Flemish family business Mycelia has been developing filamentous fungi on solid substrates for several decades, says director Kasper Moreaux. “We maintain several hundred strains of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes.”

Most of these are intended as food products or medicines, Moreaux explains. “We focus on specialty mushrooms such as oyster mushrooms, shiitakes, velvet shanks and buna-shimeji. We cultivate them as mycelium – the network of fungal threads – and sell them as spawn, the fungal equivalent of seeds. Our spawn consists of a granular mixture that growers can combine with large quantities of substrate and compost. We operate worldwide, but our main sales market is Europe. In addition to producing fungi, we also work on processes and techniques for cultivation. We share this knowledge with our customers.” 

Mycelia constantly seeks maximum genetic diversity, selecting for traits such as stability and yield. The mushroom group of Wageningen University & Research supports this work. Moreaux: “Around fifteen years ago we were looking for a partner to help us breed shiitake. The Netherlands – and WUR in particular – was already leading the mushroom sector in terms of knowledge and technology, especially in genetics. That’s why we approached WUR, where the mushroom unit was still a separate institute at that time.”

Besides extensive expertise and research facilities, WUR also maintains a strong and reliable strain collection, Moreaux continues. “This allows us to select for the most optimal traits. In the case of shiitake, we faced the unfortunate reality that the European market began importing large volumes of shiitake from China. It was no longer profitable to launch a new variety, so we stopped. But the project demonstrated exactly what WUR can offer and what they mean to us as a partner.” 

One of the greatest success stories in mushrooms from WUR and the business community is the development of the Spoppo, a sporeless oyster mushroom, in the early 2000s. The advantage is that spores cannot spread in nature, preventing disruption of ecosystems and reducing the risk of bacteria-borne diseases that attach to spores. For harvesters, the absence of spores is also beneficial, as repeated exposure can cause allergic reactions.

For growers, the sporeless oyster mushroom is therefore a very attractive cultivar. The problem, however, was that only one widely used cultivar had been developed, which carried significant risks, says Moreaux. “Monoculture is always risky. If a disease or pest emerges, it can cause enormous crop failures. You see the same with bananas and olives. There’s nothing to fall back on, no comparable alternative. Plus, you always end up with the same taste and visual characteristics. That’s why WUR, at the request of growers, began developing new cultivars of this sporeless oyster mushroom – sixteen in total.”

But whether these cultivars would be suitable for large-scale cultivation first had to be tested. As a long-term partner, Mycelia was willing to take part. Moreaux: “It’s not a given that a company is open to this. Testing requires a lot of time and money, and there’s no guarantee of desired results. It was a costly gamble. But because we’ve always been driven by innovation, we decided to take the risk. We spent thousands of hours testing a selection of those sixteen cultivars. We eventually selected two, which we now market under license.” 

According to Moreaux, this step has further established Mycelia as a frontrunner in specialty mushrooms. “We may not be the largest producer, but thanks in part to WUR, we offer a unique portfolio. To remain at the forefront, we invest heavily in innovation. It’s costly, but it ultimately delivers market advantage and generates significant revenue. Developing new cultivars also creates societal impact, for example by encouraging healthier diets and enabling more sustainable mushroom cultivation.”

What Moreaux particularly values in WUR’s mushroom group is the close connection with the sector. “Not only with us as a spawn producer, but also with growers. Interaction and knowledge exchange are crucial for addressing relevant issues and developing applicable knowledge. WUR has recently joined the board of The European Society of the Specialty Mushroom Industry (ESSMI), the European growers’ association. This demonstrates that the industry takes WUR seriously, and WUR takes the industry seriously in return. And the fact that we actively collaborate with WUR also strengthens our story with customers.”